To Mac or not to Mac…

…that is the question.

The ads are smart – very Pepsi-like in attitude. Even (apparently) gaining the buy-in from PC. The question therefore (apart from the main one) is whether you need two machines – one for work and one for life? I’d prefer a single machine.

The more I research Mac – the more I get the feeling – I won’t be able to do my work very easily on a Macbook. Of course I get a very happy-feeling about life.

==EU:
I know many more (than three) who swear by it. And again – these are people i respect – so i do take their opinions seriously. Point is – for the kind of work that they do – art & graphic related – the Mac is a wonderful machine. Q is – does it work for everyone?

I think it does not work for everyone. My friend and coworker has only PC’s at home, does amazing Photoshop and 3-D work, and is very anti-Mac.

At our job, we do graphics/video/web/effects on PC’s. They are fine, but the OS is constantly buggy and makes me frustrated, though I am quite adept at tech support.

In addition, most of my video career (before leaving video fulltime to shift to graphics) was spent editing on PC’s, and that was fine, worked well, loved it except the OS trouble.

I have 2 Macs at home, one for my daughter and the one I work on, and there’s a PC in the corner for the crappy software and for testing sites on the other platform-

I’m supposing that since I’m a visual, emotional person the Mac hits me in a lot of ways that I like. The PC is my trashy computer for the low-brow stuff, and I like the PC for a lot of reasons in a trashy low-brow way. Sad but true.

I just absolutely love the Mac operating system, Mac OsX. It looks cooler than Windows and it’s got some nifty features… And don’t get me started on iTunes… (Though you now get iTunes for PC too.) I use a Mac in my line of work and find that, for a lot less RAM, one gets a lot more output. But like you say, this pertains to people in the creative field where we expect a lot from a graphics card. I LOVE my Mac and use it for both personal and work related tasks, but to be honest, you probably don’t need if you’re not in a visual creative field.

In South Africa, especially, Mac marketing has taken on a whole new face thanks to the iPod… The iBook being the iPod’s ultimate accessory… Clever, but not true. That’s my two cents. 🙂

I agree – and I believe that is the dilemma I am going through. I do a lot of photography and it seems that the key thing that Mac is selling (even in email!) is photographs. Frankly – I have no complains against the PC – years of having worked with it and having a CS background has in fact helped me understand machines better. I am not anti-PC. “That” I think is the problem.

==Margaret:
I like it when you say ‘visual creative’ field. Because it seems (from the Mac ads – at least) that anything that’s got nothing to do with music, photos or video is boring and effectively – “not cool”. My work is amazingly creative – but I don’t use audio or video as such (definitely not in emails!!!)

The way I look at it Apple is losing a whole lot of serious potential converts by saying that “work” is boring. 🙂

And I agree @ not true! France is Apple’s new battleground!

==Swineshead:
Welcome to Gaizabonts!

Having both of them is “actually2 what I am leaning to. PC for work (so that I make money and can afford a Mac) and a Mac for all the photo/audio/viseo stuff.

I wish I had written that @ the journalist’s account – feel exactly same – except for the conclusion – I am (maybe I should say ‘was’) in two minds. 🙂